It is well known to use heating pads for treating muscle and joint pain. It is also known that massage therapy can relax and soothe individuals. Several prior art devices combine heating/cooling elements with massage units. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,886,934 to Doty discloses a rigid housing with gripping arms for receiving a body portion, with a heating pad lining the gripping arms and housing, and vibrator means carried within the housing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,624 to Jefferson shows a unitary box-shaped device which contains a heating element, a vibration unit, and controls. U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,256 to Benaron discloses a flexible housing with one or more pockets for holding heating or cooling gel packs, as well as power vibrators. U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,678 to Brannon discloses a vest unit with a hook-and-pile-covered interior surface to which can be attached vibration units and heating elements.
However, none of the prior art devices combines the features of the present invention, which provides a plurality of heat/massage devices, each of which can be wrapped and secured around a different area of the body to relieve pain, swelling, and discomfort to knees, elbows, shoulders, ankles, etc. Several of the devices can be used simultaneously. Each device has individual controls to allow adjustment of the intensity of vibration and heat applied to an affected body part.